P.E.I. lobster promoted at Calgary Stampede

While you may associate the Calgary Stampede with Alberta beef, P.E.I. fishermen are bringing a taste of the Atlantic to the festival by promoting Island lobster.

"They don't know lobster as well or anything, but most people have tried it and everybody you talk to, they say, 'It's my favourite,'" Craig Avery, president of the P.E.I. Fisherman's Association, told Mainstreet P.E.I. from Calgary.

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"It's really encouraging to know the people do love lobster here in Calgary, which is a long way from any lobster fishery."

On Thursday, P.E.I. chef Kyle Panton won a cook-off at the Calgary Co-op Kitchen Theatre with his Island-seafood-inspired dishes.

"Of course, knowing lobster in P.E.I. and working with them all the time put him on top," said Avery.

Aiming for Alberta supermarkets

Avery said the PEIFA hopes to bring P.E.I.'s Master Lobster brand to supermarkets in Alberta, and said promoting the crustacean at the Stampede is an opportunity to build awareness.

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"We have that brand in Atlantic Canada in Quebec and Ontario, and we want to start here in Western Canada. It's right here in our own country," he said.

"We'd like to be all over Canada."

This is the first year the PEIFA has been at the Stampede.

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